Television host Jimmy Kimmel hinted that he’s planning to exit his long running late-night show and former President Donald Trump is here for it.
In an interview to discuss his upcoming gig to host the Academy Awards for the fourth time, he discussed exiting his 21-year-old show.
“I think this is my final contract,” he told the Los Angeles Times. “I hate to even say it, because everyone’s laughing at me now — each time I think that, and then it turns out to not be the case.”
On Thursday, Trump got wind of the interview and took a well-deserved shot at Kimmel in a scathing Truth Social post.
Trump on Jimmy Kimmel’s potential retirement: pic.twitter.com/b1mGORJqBF
— johnny maga (@_johnnymaga) February 22, 2024
“They could get a far more talented person, who would also get better Ratings, for 5% of what they are paying this Loser!” The former president wrote.
Trump shouldn’t be overly excited, as the host of ABC’s “Jimmy Kimmel Live” still has plenty of time to torment him on the air.
“I still have a little more than two years left on my contract, and that seems pretty good,” Kimmel remarked. “That seems like enough.”
The comedian isn’t sure what he’ll pursue after the show is over, but has thankfully not indicated that he plans to go into politics.
“It might not be anything that anyone other than me is aware of,” he added, noting that his hobbies include making art and cooking.
Kimmel has been brutal to Trump during his presidency and in the years after. In his most recent segment, he took a shot at the 45th president for former First Lady Melania Trump’s absence from his campaign rallies.
During his Thursday show Kimmel joked that Trump had been asked about “the notable absence of his future ex-wife Melania” during his Wednesday Fox News town hall.
“When I do rallies, I have so many signs [saying] ‘We love our first lady,’” Trump said in the clip. “The people love her.”
“They love the fact that she’s not out there so much. You know, a lot of first ladies …They want to be everywhere,” he continued.
“They get angry at their husband because he’s not introducing them, he added. “If I didn’t introduce Melania, she’d be very happy about it.”
“In other words,” Kimmel pointed out, “you will not be seeing Melania any time soon.”
He also responded to Trump’s Truth Social post about his impending retirement from his ABC show.
Kimmel said that the LA Times article “apparently caught the attention of America’s most famous tangerine,” who gave him a shout out.
“I’ve gotta say that is a hell of a way to find out you’re not going to be somebody’s running mate,” he joked.
Kimmel noted that Trump has “no idea how delighted” he is about the post.
“I’m gonna try to enjoy it because, you know, he probably won’t be able to do this when they take away his phone in prison, so I’m going to really soak it in,” he concluded.
Meanwhile, Trump fan Kid Rock, explained how he became friends with the former president, who he has been spotted palling around with at UFC events.
Joe Rogan and Kid Rock talk about how Trump EXPOSED the media's propaganda, the Russia Hoax and the denial of the 2016 election by Hillary Clinton
"…They all said he didn't really win the election, they all said there was Russian collusion, they all said that he was… pic.twitter.com/dMFk4KK4sx
— Unlimited L's (@unlimited_ls) February 24, 2024
“I’m like, ‘Dude, you seem like somebody I’d f–kin’ be friends with, that I’d hang out with,’” he recalled.
“And he’s like, ‘You would, that’s what I’m sayin’.’ And I’m like, ‘Well, come to Nashville, come visit me,’” he detailed.
According to Rock Trump “F–kin’ did!” He “Came with his top team … we broke bread, got f–ked up on Bud Light, f–kin’ bowled, did all this fun s–t.”
He also insisted to podcast host Joe Rogan that he wasn’t the “Pied Piper” of the Bud Light boycott, but did cop to becoming the face of it when he threw “a tantrum with a machine gun.”
“I was pissed, but it wasn’t like it was going to wreck my day, let alone my life,” he said about the viral moment. “I was just kind of like, ‘What the f–k are they doing?’”